World’s biggest coronavirus vaccine trial gets underway in US

world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine trial got underway in United States on July 27 with first of 30,000 expected adult volunteers who have t been infected by virus. Phase 3 clinical trial has been designed to evaluate when a vaccine candidate can be effective in preventing symptomatic coronavirus infection in adults.

Several or countries including China and Britain have already started Phase III trial for ir vaccine candidates but scale of trial isn’t as large as for mRNA-1273. potential coronavirus vaccine has been co-developed by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechlogy company Moderna, Inc., and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). 

US’ top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said in a statement that results from early-st clinical testing indicate that mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate is safe and immugenic, supporting initiation of Phase 3 clinical trial. Dr Fauci, also director of NIAID, said that scientifically rigorous, randomised, placebo-controlled trial is designed to determine if vaccine can prevent COVID-19 and for how long such protection may last.

“Although face coverings, physical distancing and proper isolation and quarantine of infected individuals and contacts can help us mitigate SARS-CoV-2 spread, we urgently need a safe and effective preventive vaccine to ultimately control this pandemic,” he added.

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Blind trial

vaccine trial will be blinded, preventing investigators and participants from kwing who is assigned in which group. participants will be randomly assigned 1:1 to receive eir two 100 micrograms (mcg) injections of mRNA-1273 or two shots of a saline placebo, approximately 28 days apart.

According to National Institutes of Health, trial also aims to study wher vaccine can prevent severe COVID-19 or laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection with or without disease symptoms. It also seeks to answer if vaccine can prevent death caused by COVID-19 and wher just one dose can prevent symptomatic COVID-19, among or objectives.

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